


higher love

by BenBitchops



Category: Men’s Hockey RPF
Genre: Business man Auston and Flight attendant mitch, Fluff, M/M, Red Eye Crew, no respect for Willy’s authority
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 02:16:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20184598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenBitchops/pseuds/BenBitchops
Summary: “I’ll be honest with you, the Leafs are definitely a way better team.”Auston hadn’t had the heart to be offended because he knew his hometown team was shit on a good day. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have a comment too, “How many years has it been since their last cup, fifty or was it seventy years?”





	higher love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hfleury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hfleury/gifts).

> This was a bit of a mess but here we are. 
> 
> Tbh I think if given the chance, Mitch would love to wear those flight attendant skirts but Auston’s sanity might not survive it.

_ “Flight AC1836 from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport is now boarding at terminal sixteen.” _

Auston sighs tiredly as he wipes a hand down his face, the exhaustion quickly settling in as he heaved himself out of the uncomfortable airport seats heading over to his gate.

A red eye out of Sky Harbor was just another normal day for him, working between Toronto and Arizona had become his norm this year with his dad expanding their software company up north. The ungodly flight hours have turned Auston into more of a night owl than ever before, but he powered through knowing that his dad could no longer handle the long haul flights anymore. 

“Welcome back, Mr. Matthews.”

Auston gave the agent a tired smile as he handed her his ticket, Dani was the usual red eye shift agent that Auston saw often during these trips back and forth, “Thank you, Miss Ramirez.”

Auston was sure he could walk down the jet bridge with his eyes closed at this point, the posters lining the walls haven’t been changed in years and Auston has them all memorized down to the last bump in the frame third to last from the airplane’s door. He’s been here far too many times to count at this point. 

“Welcome aboard, Mr. Matthews.”

Whatever feeling of exhaustion instantly flies out of Auston’s body as he hears the soft (very) Canadian accent that always makes his heart jump in his chest. Standing right at the opening of the airplane with a big welcoming smile is Auston’s favorite flight attendant, Mitch Marner. 

Auston clears his throat praying his face is calm as he hands Mitch his ticket, trying his hardest not to stare at Mitch’s ass as he leads Auston to his seat in first class, “Morning, Mitch. Did you catch the Leafs game yesterday?”

Mitch’s smile almost makes Auston drop his carry-on as he tries to put it into the overhead compartment, “I did actually! Did you see Kadri’s goal in the second? An absolute beauty!”

Hockey is what helped Auston actually start a conversation with Mitch, he’d been wearing an old Coyotes hoodie instead of his usual dress shirt and pants so when Mitch had come around with coffee he’d instantly had a comment about it.

_ “I’ll be honest with you, the Leafs are definitely a way better team.” _

_ Auston hadn’t had the heart to be offended because he knew his hometown team was shit on a good day. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have a comment too, “How many years has it been since their last cup, fifty or was it seventy years?” _

Mitch had laughed so hard that he had to cover his mouth with his hand, hoping to keep the noise down despite the only people in first class were himself, Auston and another flight attendant who loved to call Mitch ‘Mouse’ because of the Mickey Mouse tie he always wore whenever he wasn’t wearing his Leafs one. 

“It really was, but Andersen’s save in the third was definitely first star material hands down.” Auston liked it better when it was just himself and Mitch in first class, he didn’t have to feel weird about the two of them talking most of the flight. Usually Willy, the other flight attendant in first class, hung out in the cockpit since his husband Zach Hyman was the pilot. 

No one really ever flies the red eye from Arizona to Toronto except for Auston, people looking for a cheap flight and the crew who bring the plane back to Pearson after the rounds it’s made earlier. 

Once they’re cruising in the air and Mitch has done his rounds, he comes over to Auston’s seat with coffee and his complimentary snack to sit in the empty seat across from Auston’s. Mitch has gotten rid of his jacket, loosened up his tie and hasn’t bothered to slick his hair back letting it fluff out.

“Please tell me you actually picked a good movie for us to watch this time, Matty.”

Auston refrains from rolling his eyes as he finishes going through his email list, him and Mitch have been watching movies together since Auston’s fourth trip with the red eye crew. Mitch had seen him watching Mighty Ducks and automatically plopped into the seat next to Auston and asked if he could watch too, and they never looked back.

Mitch grabs two extra blankets from the empty seats and moves to sit closer to Auston, laying the blankets over their laps before grabbing the headphones from Auston’s backpack without a single ounce of shame. They’ve come a long way in these past few months.

Auston, just to be an asshole, clicks on  _ Miracle _ which automatically makes Mitch groan from beside him, “How dare you.  _ Miracle  _ is an American treasure and you will respect it.”

The snort that comes out of Mitch gives Auston an idea of what’s to come his way and he’s not disappointed when Mitch says, “Because it would be the last time you losers ever won a gold medal at the Olympics.” 

Almost instantly they dissolve into a playful fight that involves a lot of poking from Mitch and a lot of hand slapping from a very ticklish Auston, who really doesn’t need Zach coming out of the cockpit to scold them for being too loud, “Take that back right now, Marner.”

“Canada is better than the States just admit it!”

They tussle for a bit more before a notification pops up on Auston’s screen from the investors he was supposed to be meeting with once he landed. Once he’s done reading the email his mood has taken a one way ticket out of the plane, which catches Mitch’s attention, “You alright, Auston?”

Auston grumbles darkly as he pinches the bridge of his nose after pulling his glasses off, he really hates big corporate assholes who don’t have a shred of common courtesy. There’s no way he’s going to spend the next seven hours he was supposed to be working just aimlessly walking around Toronto, “The stupid investors I was supposed to be meeting just canceled our meeting and now I have nothing to do in Toronto for the next seven hours when we land. I didn’t even get a hotel.”

This is quickly turning into Auston’s worst nightmare and all he wanted to do was head into the cockpit and ask Zach to turn this plane right back around so he could go home and sleep in his bed like he’s wanted to since he got up that morning. Auston has to gather all sense of calm so that he doesn’t send himself into a panic attack over this.

“What if you hung out with me?”

Auston isn’t sure he heard Mitch right, there’s no way Mitch is offering to hang out with Auston right now but at this point he doesn’t know how anything could go, “Are you serious?”

Mitch looks shy, which is not a version of Mitch he’s ever seen before, it’s cute but right now Auston needs to focus because this is something he’s wanted to do for a while, “I’m serious, Auston. I have the day off once we land and you said that you wanted to meet my dog. Also, someone needs to show you that Canada is far more superior than the States.”

That gets a laugh out of Auston which in turn makes Mitch smile as he closes Auston’s laptop and sets it off to the side hoping to take his mind off of the email that just ruined their movie session before it even had a chance to start, “So what do you say, Auston? Wanna enjoy the Marner Tour or not.”

Auston has to take a second to actually think about this because while spending a whole day with Mitch sounds like a dream come true, it also means being in close proximity of the guy he’s had a crush on for almost four months. Auston’s not sure he’s ready to subject himself to a new level of embarrassment but one look at Mitch’s hopeful face has him answering before he realizes what’s going on, “Does this tour include food or no?”

Mitch cheers excitedly just as Willy walks out of the cockpit and gives him a look that very clearly says ‘Keep your voices down or I’ll go back and get Zach’ but Mitch ignores it in favor of telling Willy the good news, “Me and Auston are gonna spend the whole day in Toronto once we land!”

The look Willy sends Auston makes him slide down in his seat, busying himself with untangling his headphones so he doesn’t have to see the knowing look in his eyes, “My business meeting got canceled and I didn’t have a hotel pre planned so Mitch offered to show me around the city.”

Willy makes a noise that reminds Auston a lot of his older sister, a mix between an annoyed huff and a knowing sound, a clear older sibling sound that comes after years of dealing with younger sibling bullshit. 

“You can come hang out with us, Will! Bring the hubby along too!” 

All of Auston’s hope of somehow asking Mitch out on a proper date almost go flying out the plane until Willy shakes his head, “We can’t. We’ve got a dinner with his grandparents and then I promised to kick his brothers asses at road hockey.”

Auston and Mitch share a look, they’ve both heard the stories of the Hyman family road hockey tournaments and know for a fact that Willy’s family doesn’t take hockey lightly either, “Try not to kill each other, doesn’t his mom want grandkids?”

Auston bites his lip at the way Willy pales before pointing a finger at a laughing Mitch, he’d laugh too if he wasn’t terrified of what Willy might do to his body after he finished with Mitch’s. 

“Don’t. I already have twenty-nine different adoption service numbers on my phone thanks to her alone. It’s a process alright!” 

Mitch and Auston both lift their hands up defensively causing Willy to sigh tiredly as he rubbed his temples, “I need a drink so why don’t you two talk about your date or whatever while I go bury my woes in a bottle of orange juice because I’m a responsible adult.”

Auston waits until he sees Willy exit first class before letting himself look over at Mitch, who’s looking at Auston with big hopeful eyes that make his stomach flip dangerously, “Look, about what Willy said...”

Mitch holds a hand up to stop Auston from any more rambling which Auston is silently very thankful for, “It’s okay. I uh know you don’t really see me like that.”

The first thought Auston has is ‘You’re my dream guy’ and the second one is ‘You absolute idiot’ which he’s nice enough not to say out loud when he reaches out to lower Mitch’s hand, “You don’t know jack shit, Mouse. I’ve been trying to ask you out for a while now, but I’ve never gotten the right time to do it.”

There’s a few emotions that Mitch goes through before finally settling on fond annoyance, a look Auston is very familiar with that makes his nerves calm almost instantly, “For a guy who’s really good at closing deals with big corporate assholes, you’re really fucking terrible at asking people on dates.”

Auston can’t help the way his eyes roll at Mitch, who looks like he’s on the verge of vibrating out of his seat in excitement, “Thanks, it’s the anxiety.”

Mitch bursts out laughing which sets off Auston, both of them hunched over laughing at how ridiculous this whole thing is until Willy comes back and not so gently knocks his foot against the back of Mitch’s seat, “Didn’t I tell you two idiots to behave?”

Deciding to take one for the team Auston sticks his tongue out at Willy, who in return flips them both off before finishing his walk towards the cockpit leaving Mitch and Auston to snicker among themselves until they finally calm down enough to talk like normal adults again. 

“So, you wanna ask or should I?”

Auston looks at Mitch, taking in the flush of his cheeks and the way his eyes twinkle with a level of mischief that Auston has grown to love and feels his heart beat rapidly against his chest. He’s really sure that it’s the anxiety this time but it could also be because he really likes this dweeb too much for his own good, “God help me, you’re so fucking impatient it’s ridiculous.”

Mitch barely opens his mouth to retaliate before Auston reaches over to cup his cheek, pulling Mitch close to kiss him. Auston doesn’t feel the sparks that the romcoms Mitch makes him watch talk about, although he does feel like  _ something  _ clicks into place when Mitch presses forward to kiss him back. It’s a pretty damn good first kiss if you ask Auston. 

They pull apart a few minutes later, chests heaving with their hands gripping at the others shirt. Auston can’t get over how blue Mitch’s eyes look this close and he can see the tiny scar on Mitch’s forehead that he told Auston was from a wayward puck his brother accidentally aimed at him. 

Auston’s brain to mouth filter must’ve been left in Arizona because he has zero control of the words that find their way out of his mouth, “You’re so beautiful.” Auston automatically feels the heat crawl up his neck and cover his cheeks in a dark flush that makes him hide his face in his hands, “Please ignore me. I’m just...A mess.”

Mitch slowly lifts the arm rest between them just as Zach turns off the lights in the cabins, the soft blue hue of the under lights giving Auston enough light to see Mitch kick off his shoes before he tucks them under himself, “Get comfy. Willy can watch the cabin while I sleep. Gotta save our energy for the tour and our date.”

Auston shakes his head fondly as he settles down in his seat, he barely gets his neck pillow on before Mitch makes himself comfortable against Auston’s side with an arm thrown over his stomach, “Comfy?”

Mitch makes a soft noise as he rubs his face against Auston’s chest a little, pushing close to Auston when he lays a blanket over Mitch before laying an arm around him, “You’re pretty comfy to sleep on, I should do this more often.”

“I expect to hear Willy bitching about you sleeping on the job very soon.”

Auston quiets down when Mitch lifts his head just enough to kiss the corner of his mouth before laying his back down against Auston’s chest, “Sleep. We’ll deal with everything later.”

The only sounds in the cabin are Mitch’s soft breathing and the plane’s engines, both slowly putting Auston to sleep. He tugs Mitch just a bit closer, resting his head over Mitch’s before letting himself get lulled to sleep. He’s going to give Mitch the best date of his life once they land and maybe the best relationship of his life too. 


End file.
